Foam
E-Z was founded by Brad Nadell with the focus of supplying local shapers with board
building materials. Over 20 years Foam E-Z has evolved and now supplies home
builders worldwide via their eCommerce website. They have played an important
role in Southern California’s board building culture and proudly bear the
moniker of “The Original One-Stop Surfboard Supply Shop”. We sat down with Brad
to hear about Foam E-Z history.

US
Blanks: How did you get started in the business?

Brad
Nadell: I grew up in Seal Beach in the early 80’s. We surfed Southside a lot
and then we’d all hang out at Harbour Surfboards, guys like Tim Stamps, Chas
Wickwire, Marty Thomas, Chad Wells, Dave Sauers, Ryan Simmons, Mike Morgan,
Chris Sardelis, just to name a few, I could go on. So growing up around Harbour
Surfboards I got to see the process of building a board from blanks being
delivered by Clark Foam to Rich shaping them to the boards being laminated. So
I started sweeping up around the shop, just to be around the scene. Then
eventually I started “air-spraying” boards, that’s kind of where I made my
niche at Harbour. I painted boards for 8 years until I was in

my 20’s.

Southside Seal Beach 83'

US
Blanks: How did you transition from Harbour to Foam E-Z?

Brad:
My good friend Steve Adler, may he rest in peace, presented me with an idea to
supply the local shapers with blanks. At the time he had The Surfboard Factory
which was super popular. This area of Westminster was a real hotbed for
shaping. Guys like Mark Pesce, Chas, A-39, Poi Dog, there was a lot of big up
and coming shapers around here. As a matter of fact, they were all shaping out
of The Surfboard Factory, so we started supplying them all with blanks. Steve’s
business was growing and he was busy with his glass shop so I ended up buying
him out of the business. Since then Foam E-Z has evolved quite a bit. It used
to be just focused on supplying commercial shapers, but there has been an
increasing trend of home builders and so we’ve focused a lot of our efforts of
education and supplying them with all the materials they need.

US
Blanks: Seems like a logical transition. There was a need in the market and
you’ve been able to adapt and fill that need. How do you define Foam E-Z today?

Brad:
Foam E-Z today has grown a lot. We’re a worldwide supplier of foam, cloth,
tools, basically everything you need to build a board. Obviously the DIY (Do It
Yourself) builder, the home builder, has grown. More people care about how
there board is made or want to learn about construction so we’re really happy
to provide education and help people along with the process. And we recently
built a shape room that people can rent out, which is fully stocked with tools.
We have very good instructors. It’s been fun to see all the people who are
interested in board building. We have Father and Sons coming in to build boards
together. We can make personalized lams. We get the board glassed for you. We
provide ding repair, shipping, pretty much everything. We still supply the
industry as well, but that’s not our sole focus any longer.

Customer Service

US
Blanks: Why do you use US Blanks?

Brad:
Well, I chose US Blanks right when they started. I had relationships
established with the the key people, whom previously worked at Clark Foam so I
kind of put all my trust in them and had faith that they would be able to
translate the superior quality of Clark into their new brand. And so far they've really nailed it. Their efficiently is key. The quality is great. They
stand behind their product. I've always asked for feedback from shapers and
customers and I always get positive feedback. They just provide me everything I
need to be successful selling surfboard blanks. And the fact that they are made
here in the USA is a huge slam dunk for us. That’s important to us. And lastly,
they just do what they say, which is really important. I trust them and if I’m
on a deadline, they always come through.

US
Blanks: Awesome. Anything else you’d like to include? How can people find you?

Brad:www.FoamEZ.com
has all our important information, but we’ve enjoyed growing our Instagram
lately. It’s given us a new way to communicate with customers around the world
and give them insight into some of the fine details of what goes on here. They
can follow us @foamez. Also, we’ll be celebrating our 20th
anniversary this year. We’re throwing a huge party with food and tons of free
giveaways and pro surfers and shapers. It’ll be sometime in March so please
follow us to get the exact date and time.